124. TAYLOR MALI: What Teachers Make

Taylor Mali (1965-) is a an American slam poet who has been part of four winning teams at the National Poetry Slam competition. What Teachers Make is Mali’s most well-known poem and was born out of an actual dinner conversation he had. You can view Mali performing the poem in this video and more of his work on his YouTube channel. The poem was also the title of a book Mali wrote: What Teachers Make – In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World. Mali worked as an English, History and Math teacher for nine years and continues to be an advocate for teachers all over the world.

I thought this poem would make a good follow-up to last week’s Erica Goldson graduation speech. While the system might not be perfect, teachers are the unsung heroes of the education system and I have nothing but praise and respect for the profession. Teachers can make all the difference – having a mediocre one can really damage a student’s potential, but the right one can inspire a child to greatness.

I’m really honoured that a lot of teachers have told me they use Zen Pencils comics in the classroom. It’s something I never planned on happening and is such a thrill. It also makes perfect sense – I would have paid way more attention to poetry and history if they were taught with the aid of cartoons. If you’re one such teacher (or a student on the receiving end), then please share how you use them in the comments.

UPDATE:I’ve been in touch with Taylor Mali and he has kindly given me permission to make this available as a print. He also will be donating his share of the profits to The Atlantic Center for the Arts, where he is currently teaching poetry. Taylor even told me that he has used the comic as a slideshow while performing the poem – which is pretty freakin’ awesome!

– Taylor Mali’s official website.
– Thanks to George for submitting the poem.
– Zen Pencils is on GoComics! My archives will be updating regularly on the biggest comics website in the world, where you can also read the entire archives of hundreds of famous comics such as Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert and Peanuts. It’s really an honour to have my work alongside these legendary strips, especially Calvin & Hobbes, which is my all-time biggest influence and inspiration. There’s also a great GoComics app you can download so you can read all your favourite strips on your phone or tablet.

I got his email from his website and wrote him a few years back. He responded pretty quickly. I hope you can get his permission, because I would *Love* to have this in print as well. Terrific job on this! I’m a huge fan of your comics.

My mom’s a teacher at an elementary school. If you manage to get permission, I will get a printed and framed one for her. Very, very nicely done. Hard to believe you’re still getting better with each comic.

I’m a Colombian English teacher and I have used many of your comics as a way of helping my students improve their speaking skills. Your work has been an amazing tool to do so. My students feel quite inspired by your work and start talking about the quotes and poems in such a deep way, that I feel extremely blessed by your wonderful art.

I’m not one to buy prints but I would 100% buy this one if you have it! As a young college student with interests in becoming a teacher with a father who thinks being a teacher is the biggest waste of someone’s life… this is a very meaningful poster to me. LOVE IT, thank you for creating it! 🙂

I enjoyed Mali’s video of this poem when I first saw it a year or so ago. And while I don’t doubt that IRL he made what he said he did in the poem, I also know that, in light of my own experience as a student & as the parent of a public school student, he was an exception in a universe notorious for fostering the exact opposite of what he felt driven to foster in his own students. Perhaps the great teachers using your comics in their classes could start sending this comic to their less stellar peers in the hopes they’ll either be inspired to greatness themselves or get the hell out of the profession.

Really? That’s how you react? With small minded insults belittling the most attacked and disrespected profession in America?
Maybe, just maybe you get what you put in. Maybe you’re childs teachers are being exhausted with busy work and nagging parents who won’t help their child while insisting the teacher is wrong for saying they need help.
Or maybe you didn’t realize that your love of reading, or film, or sports, or even the love of your child comes from the love and interest that was shown to you from ONE of your teachers.
Don’t insult the teachers, don’t place the blame on the teachers, don’t do that unless you’re more than willing to take a part of the blame for doing nothing about it.

She made some valid points. She wasn’t angry or attacking. To believe that everyone in a particular profession is pure gold is absurd. Every profession has people that don’t belong in it. Usually that sort of thing plays a role in that persons happiness or sometimes trickles down to a hand full of other employees. If someone is teaching that hates it, they won’t do as well as those that love it. Rather than just having an effect on that one person though, it trickles down in to children. How well they learn that subject, their interest in that subject, their desire to be at school sometimes. It is foolish to think that a teacher is incapable of bullying children or being bad at their job just because they are a teacher. I think Jenny is right BECAUSE you are right. There are parents that come at the teacher as if it is the teacher’s fault there is no follow through at home. Just like all teachers are not bad, neither are all parents. The ones that are cause a lot of ruckus and make things very difficult. So please, try to really read the comments with an open mind and don’t be such an internet troll. I’m sure there was at least one teacher who inspired you to something better than trolling.

Don’t GENERALIZE teachers. Not all teachers are the same, all teachers have to deal with those types of students and parents and higher ups in the faculty. It’s agonizing for each of them, no matter what type of person you are, and causes some to even quit even if they’re the nicest of people. The difference is that there are teachers who see teaching as helping people grow, and teachers who see teaching as just a paycheck.

I have complete respect for many of my teachers despite everything they may have done or how harsh they may have been. They still helped me and anyone else in the class that needed it. That respect does not extend to the teachers who refused to answer quests, refused to help a child make up a grade, refused to try and understand special circumstances, etc. When a classmate of mine had to go to a funeral, our teacher tried to fail him despite it being an excusable absence saying that there are no exceptions.

Trust me, you are absolutely right. Teachers are not all the same and not all of them are noble, I have been bullied by Teachers! Can you believe that? I grew up in India, I was a light haired kid and fair, I was called white cockroach and a slang similar to ginger all the time even by teachers. They refused to cast me in plays because I looked odd according to them! Those years of my life were horrible. I dreaded going to school. Can you imagine a kid in 1st grade being punished for their hair colour? I have zero respect for them. It only changed when I changed schools and then things changed. While we did have some teachers who were annoying, no one bugged me then, I had some wonderful teachers who encouraged me to take up sports, drama, and asked me to tutor weaker kids. They told me I could achieve what I wanted if I tried hard enough. That is when I started having respect for my teachers. I immensely owe credit to the teachers of my second school and I couldn’t care less about the teachers of my first school.

I was a public school student, the parent of public school students, and a public school teacher.

You know what drove me out of teaching?

Parents. Parents who are quick to blame teachers and adamantly opposed to holding themselves and their students responsible. Parents who refuse to acknowledge that THEY still have a responsibility to their kids to teach them and not just leave everything to the teachers. Hey, my job was to teach kids German, not teach them sex ed or to not get involved with drugs, my job wasn’t to spend my meager pay on feeding my students. But I did, because their parents couldn’t be bothered, and SOMEBODY had to.

I miss my students, so I put my time into volunteering at my sons’ school and hosting exchange students and leading youth activities with a local community group.

Both my parents are teachers. My mom had been for the last 29 years in and my father for like 25 or so; and there’s no people in the world who i admire most than them.

Hearing about both their days, about how much the care for their students, how they challenge them to be better, to try harder, to do better, to be kinder everyday; gives me the feeling that been a teacher, is actually the best way to try to make our world better, by making people better.

I do not completely agree with this poem. I’m from Mexico so the reality may be somewhat different from other places.

The reality here is that the majority of teachers do the work of teaching because they have no choice: can not find a job or the few jobs there are underpaid.

There are minded teachers, yes, but very few.

It is not easy being a teacher, that’s for sure. If many parents can not educate their children well, sometimes they only have no more that 3 children. What can you expect from an “outsider” that to have to teach 30 or more children?

I think it is in every country, I’m from the Netherlands, which has a well developed educational system. I’ve had teachers 5-10 years ago that I still look up to and respect, I have teachers that do not deserve any respect. They only went into teaching because of good benefits, long holidays and for them short hours since they don’t spend the required time on teaching but half as everything.

I’ve seen pedophile teachers or teachers with slight pedophile tendencies that were still teaching after thirty years or kept getting promoted even after regular complaints about the teacher.

The problem with this poem is is that it basically denies these teachers exist even though in my experience, about 50% of the teachers would have been better in a different position where they did not spread their racist, ignorant or just wrong views on young people. Teachers that care for students are arguably the most important people in society, but they are also very rare.

What this poem does is put it to ignorant people who turn vocations into rough caricatures. Of course there are teachers that don’t meet the grade. We all know who they were. That is no excuse to say that all teachers teach only because they can’t.

Yeah? What about the lousy teachers? The Ones that are the rule, and not the exception? And the lousy students they leave in their wake who no longer give a damn, or want to even try? I bet you can’t answer that…

Why are you shitting on this reaction for such an idiotic reason?
Really? Grow up.

If you don’t like someones opinion you can just as well ignore them, or at least try not to start insulting people since it automatically gives other people the impression you are the one that is in the wrong.

Wonderful reply, Jarrod! It reminds me of Zen Pencil Comic #50 (Neil Gaiman: “Make good art”), one of my all-time favorites. I would actually like to see a good comic about bad teachers. It would be perfect for the spot next to the good comic about good teachers 😉

“I bet you can’t answer that” is one of the most dangerous punk retorts to make. Word to the wise.

It is commonly used by anti-intellectuals to shut down someone who actually does know something, by creating sprawling open questions that demand too much be answered immediately in a tidy and concise answer, else the person being challenged will be “exposed” as knowing nothing.

It’s dangerous because much of the time, the person you attempt to mock with it will show you up and give you far more than you could have ever anticipated.

There are some lousy students. If a student refuses to try, you cannot blame the teacher. You could harp on about “the right teacher, the right subject and the right method” but really none of that matters if a student refuses to work hard. I don’t see how judging a fish for its ability to climb a tree is relevant here: that doesn’t have anything to do with the teacher, that has to do with the students talent for a particular subject. You can’t, for example, say that an art teacher is bad because the student is more naturally talented at maths.

Odd that you don’t mention lousy parents? It seems to me that most students who don’t get ahead in school do so because a) their parents have invested almost no time in continuing their education outside of the classroom or b) the school system they attend doesn’t have the financial means and community support to lift these students up. The teachers are always to blame because Johnny’s parents believe that the school is responsible for raising him?

Yes, there ARE lousy teachers. But there are FAR more wonderful, creative, passionate teachers who TEACH not because it’s a glamorous job with endless benefits but because it is an IMPORTANT job that benefits OTHERS. That’s the point of this comic – teachers do not get paid a whole lot, but they MAKE a difference. Maybe instead of contributing to the problem and being content with harping on a profession you know nothing about, you could get involved and put forth a solution.

But they were not the rule. They were the exception. Anthropology prof in college; I still have no idea how I pulled off an A in that class because I came out of it having learned nothing. College agreed; that was her only semester there. Tenth grade health; she stunk, and the school fired her after just one year. Eighth grade science; she was only there because she had to teach something in order to coach the girls’ volleyball team. Kindergarten teacher, absent so often I didn’t even know what she looked like. But that’s four teachers out of my entire experience as a student, through my bachelor’s degree. All the rest were like this poem — dedicated, determined, more interested in my success than their financial compensation. Even my pre-calc teacher, whom my mom hated; she was convinced he was a sexist who didn’t think girls could succeed at math, though I never understood how she got that idea. He’d devoted a lot of effort into succeeding on the math team, a remarkable accomplishment given I’d hated math up to that point. I think he’d figured out that I would only advance if given an objective — not just vague “learn this stuff because” but “learn this stuff so you can score highly”. Took me a long time to realize that was what he’d done.

The best teachers you never even realize how they’ve motivated you; they’ve done it that cleverly. And that is part of why we don’t appreciate them, unfortunately. We only notice their efforts when they are doing poorly.

I remember I first heard this poem by this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuBmSbiVXo0
it’s a typo animation, really cool one too.
Great comic adaptation mr zen pencils! I think you captured really well the feeling of the poem and expanded with your own work really nicely. bow to you.

Thank you so much for this. I’m currently planning to get a copy of your first two Einstein posters for my classroom – one of the hardest things I’ve found is to get kids to feel comfortable enough to ask questions and not be afraid of getting things wrong in front of others and I want to use them to help students to get to that place.

Excellent. I am a teacher in North Carolina and have used many of your cartoons in my fourth grade classroom. I used the “Pale Blue Dot” in our study of moon phases (and therefore space) and determining and interpreting the author’s message in a piece of text. I also used “Sympathy for the Devil” in our discussion about bullying. I have your free prints posted in my room and the students refer to them often, especially the one about leaving your own trail and the one about doing things beyond what you have already mastered. I have found that the students respond very well to the comics. Your artwork is terrific and really allows students to visualize text in a non-conventional way.

Thank you for recognizing that there are many, many teachers who are incredibly passionate about their work. I would do nothing else because it is my calling, a career that feeds my soul.

Thanks for creating and sharing! You always choose something that’s thought-provoking. As an English teacher, I used your Malala comic (split into frames on a PowerPoint) during our study of The Hunger Games as we thought about and discussed what revolution, resistance, sacrifice, and courage really mean. The students were thunderstruck by her powerful words paired with your powerful images.

Sorry, but the guy sounds like an authoritarian a**hole. Not letting kids go to the bathroom because “LOL you’re just bored”? Absolute silence? These methods are the tools of teachers that cannot make kids respect them so they instill fear in them instead…

Hey Merty….before you spew, get into the classroom for yourself & check out how much time kids waste by using the restroom when they don’t need to or whispering with a neighbor when they’re supposed to be getting ready for the next item on the agenda. No, we do NOT have to let kids use the restroom whenever they wish. Every school has a passing period – it’s made for doing things like going to lockers &, yes, even peeing. No, it’s not about instilling fear into kids, it’s about boundaries – you know, those things many parents do NOT teach their kids, yet expect us to do for them.
So, get your finger down unless you’ve walked the walk & talked the talk.

I teach five classes of 25 to 34 students each for the last 27 years. The same small group- about four or five from those classes ask for the pass EVERY single day at the same time. I have stopped them many times when they make a right turn from my room, instead of a left to the bathroom 30 feet away. They don’t have to go…they want to wander the halls, they want to bother friends, etc. When a kid needs to go, you know; and when they don’t, you know that too.

But what if…they do? I understand your point, but from an experience I can say that it’s excruciating to sit 30+ minutes when you drank too much water the last recess/are sick. Does nothing good for the concentration either.

Plus, say there is a 10 minute recess. 5 minutes are taken by the teacher, who holds the class longer. The next class is on the other side of the campus. Restroom spaces are finite, and teachers want the kids sitting in their places sharp on time. So it’s the choice of being rude by being late and being rude by asking to go to the bathroom.

Maybe a solution would be to forbid the ones who obviously abuse their right (like the example where the kid turns the “wrong” way.)

Most teachers would rather the student be late entering the class than disrupting the middle of class to use the bathroom and wandering the halls. Passing periods are usually more than enough time to get to and use the bathroom.

Kids at our school have a pass of which they can use ten of each quarter. If they want to waste their bathroom pass wandering the hall (and risk getting caught) that’s up to them, but when it’s out, it’s out. No exceptions will be made.

As a teacher, in the first instance, I extend trust to every student who asks for a bathroom break. To those that use that break to wander off, then miraculously return just as the bell is about to ring, I tell them very clearly,

“Don’t ask me for a bathroom break again. You won’t get it. I trusted you, and you have betrayed that trust.”

Students are individuals too, some are more worthy of trust than others. But you have to give them a chance, and believe they are capable of acting responsibly. Negative expectations without justification are just as damaging as failing to enforce natural consequences. They’re on a learning curve called life, just as we all are.

Thank you so much for introducing me to this amazing poet. I am now retreating down the rabbit hole to read his work and watch his videos. You always inspire me to discover new poets and people, and it’s such a wonderful feeling!

Nice work as always Gav. I’m in high school and this past year my teacher wanted to help kids really understand The Road Not Taken so I sent her yours and thinks it’s fantastic! She shared it with all her classes and used What if money was no object

This reminds me — very much — of what I know about cops and those in the military.

The ones who really make a difference, the ones who aren’t simply a bunch of apple-polishing connivers who are in it for the pension and whatever they can steal, the ones who actually bring their best efforts to their jobs? …

Never — and I mean never — do they talk like the guy in this drawing. The only ones who talk like that in the education field are the pedagogical enablers who go to all the seminars and know all the right people and end up being put in control (and running out the really committed ones) because the superintendents know that exactly which ones will run the district without trouble.

And we get biology classes where “the controversy” over evolution is taught, with time being given to “alternative theories.”

And we get literature classes where all the books are specifically selected so that if one of the parents objects, there will be a big discussion. All sides will be heard, we’ll all be respectful of what everyone else has to say, and then the people who started the complaint will get what they want because the teachers will be taken aside and subtly threatened by the people who run the school.

And we get history classes in which no one calls Reagan a war criminal, no one questions George W. Bush’s sobriety, and no one questions how Barack Obama — who continued blowing up brown children with his drone program — can call himself a liberal and not be laughed out of the room.

And we get one hour a day (at the absolute most) of a foreign language, when we get to high school. A practice that pretty much anyone who knows anything about neural plasticity and hearing will tell you is pointless for gaining native fluency.

– Your issue with Biology class is a battle for the school board, not teachers. School boards (specifically the Texas school board) select what goes into a Biology book.
– Your issue about literature is a battle for the school board, not teachers. When a parent wants a book banned or removed from the req reading list then this is filed with, and far too often approved by, the school board.
– Your issue with History class is PARTLY a battle for the school board as well, not teachers. The board sets the standards and chooses the text books (and few books are as up to date to include Obama as Prez). But your remarks about needing more open discussion are valid.
– Your issue with foreign language is a battle for the school board, not teachers. Teachers don’t set class duration or choose how many foreign language classes students receive.

It would seem that none of your beefs are to do with teachers themselves, but rather the often unelected board officials. Train your sight better, Travis. You are aiming your rifle at the wrong targets.

“The only ones who talk like that in the education field are the pedagogical enablers who go to all the seminars and know all the right people and end up being put in control (and running out the really committed ones) because the superintendents know that exactly which ones will run the district without trouble.”

People like that go on to run the school boards or be policy makers that side with their conservative constituents.

Now this is a contraditory speech. At the same time that he keeps this ultra autoritarian posture and repress what kids say, later on he says he inspires kids to question and to critisize, he says he teach kids to show their middle finger to people that judje them by what they make, which is exactly what he’s doing.

It’s about instilling discipline, not controlling kids. Getting kids to see that hard work and getting things done requires not allowing yourself to be distracted. Or create excuses for themselves. How to be self-reliant instead of sharing each other’s answers to questions and copy-pasting.

That foundation is required before you can begin to teach someone how to be a critic, how to stand up for themselves, and how to question others. Otherwise you end up with what we see too often in society: lazy people who use criticism of others to distract people from their own problems and faults, to shift the blame. Like a lazy kid making excuses.

People either complain that teachers have too much control in the classroom, or have no control of their classroom. You don’t know what it takes to keep a classroom of 34 students under control. Very often it takes a very firm hand, but just because you have a firm hand doesn’t mean you can’t be inspiring and thought-provoking and have the kids love you. In fact most kids love teachers who keep a classroom that they can feel safe in. Teaching is just one of those jobs.

I am a teacher and I had seen your John Green comic before, but didn’t visit your website for others until http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/ posted one on tumblr recently that I read this weekend. I proceeded to read about two dozen more and hope to have some of them displayed in my classroom when the school year starts again (I have dozens of posters in my room and already have several of yours on my Christmas List).
I am a junior high and high school physical sciences teacher at a rural public school in Shelby County, Ohio. I’ve been teaching there all 8 years of my career and start back in a month. I especially liked that you did my favorite Neil DeGrasse Tyson quote and one of my favorite poems “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” which I read to my new students [8th graders] and my Earth & Space Science Class [HS elective] every year.
I also plan on putting this one up in the teachers’ lounge.
Thanks for sharing your art with us.

I think this one was really amazing to read and see, especially one day after the Indian festival of Guru-Poornima ( it was on 22nd July ) which we celebrate to honour and show reverence to our teachers and ‘gurus’.
Your work is truly inspiring! Congratulations!

Like in every profession, there are teachers who became teachers because they always wanted to teach and there are teachers who became teachers because they couldn’t become anything else.

Like in every profession, those who teach because they love it are great teachers and those who do it just for the money are bad teachers.

Unlike most other professions a bad teacher can really cause a lot of damage to the society. While a good teacher can change the world through their inspired students.

Every country needs more good teachers and less of the bad ones. In India they try to concentrate on the quantity of teachers because a lot of the population doesn’t get any education. But instead of trying to provide mediocre education to everyone maybe it would be better to provide quality education to half the people. But then that won’t win you any elections so….

It’s not for the money… It’s for power and security. They longed for any job who would let them to take control over 30-40 people, to be respected, to be favored, to be honored. A job where they can refer to themselves as the law. A job where they were always right. A job where they can make favoritism over one student and despising the other, and sadly, it could affect their life, eternally. A job where you will get paid whether you done your job good enough or not.

I agrees that a person like this exist in every profession. But as teacher holds the responsibility for one’s future and life, they need to be thoroughly educated and inspected. I’m from Indonesia and i think sometimes, the quantity of teacher here isn’t enough. But then again, quantity is a different thing from quality. At least provide enough teacher who is willing to get mutated to some isolated place, not those who are happy to be teacher because of the easy and secure life. If you’re not willing or not brave enough, don’t take the risk to be a teacher. Don’t let your students take after your irresponsible action. And for those who take it easy and prefer to teach in the city, they even dare to say that ‘parents are responsible for their children more than us teacher’. They don’t even realize that children uses most of their day in school (this is not a back up for irresponsible parents, though).

I’m deeply apologized if i say some harsh things about teacher, and i recognized there are outstanding, respectable and hard-working teacher over there. And i admit that i have many unpleasant memories about teacher, so it’s kinda hard for me to respect them on first glance. But i also have some teacher that i admired and looked up to. Overall, i don’t ever regret that i have so much unpleasantness from teacher (especially grade school teacher) nor many enjoyable time altogether. They are the one who makes me who i am, and I’m loving living my life.

I used your Alan Watts comic here in Korea. It was a huge inspiration to them! The students loved the image of the woman in a hamster wheel. I asked my kids over and over and over again, “Do you want to be a hamster all your life?” I never got around to thanking you for drawing that comic, so thank you; it has had a deep impact on a lot of students here in Korea.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this adaptation. As an English teacher to adults in Germany, I have had a similar experience.

I had a student who worked in a large automobile company here in Germany, and in a discussion about economics we got around to salaries. He said something to the effect of ‘…and because you’re just a teacher, that’s why you make what you make.’

I did not remind him of all the lucrative business deals he’s recently made with companies in other countries using English for communication, though I probably should have at least asked for a commission. Those deals would not have been possible without English teachers.

Good teachers make a difference, school are always a place to look forward to when you have good teachers, I love this comic especially how it has illustrated the poem. I have been an instructor once and I still love what I did then, because I gave my student all my best and encouraged even the most unwilling out of them to give their best.

Week after week I await your comics to come in to my email every Tuesday. I have nothing to say but thanks for inspiring and lifting my moods with the works you have done.

With this recent comic I have to say that you have given credit to a lot of teachers out there. I would definitely share this one if I happen to see my teachers back in the day and to the teachers that I personally know. 😀

Awesome comic as always Gav. I’m a teacher and what people say is true… there are some truly great teachers and some mediocre ones. I have worked with and been taught by both kinds. As someone relatively new to the profession I hope to one day be a great teacher but I know there is a long way til I get there. I teach Math and rarely get to show your comics in class but I have some of your warrior monk ones pinned up around the classroom. Kids ask what do they mean and I just say “What do you think?” That always get some different answers and just to see kids think about it is a great thing.

Keep up the good work Gav. I will await your next comic with bated breath.

Hey Gav
Your drawings are amazing i like them so much. Thanks for doing this.
But i found a copy of this on 9GAG and I dont think you posted it there.
Here is a copy of the link so you can do something against it (if you want to):

Nearly all my family are teachers, and I used to want to be one too. But they all tell me that it isn’t what it used to be, and to at least try some other jobs first, and now I’m not so sure…sad really.

However, the lawyer at the end is shamed and I shame is a poor (at best) educational method. Its a little funny that the educator shames the lawyer for ignorance yet its the educator’s job to educate and dispel ignorance.

I used to be an inner city science teacher and with everything I just said I do understand the utter disrespect teachers encounter and how enraging it can be.

Thank you. Our society is so focused on the money. As a retired teacher, there were many days when I wondered why I stayed in teaching. Then I’d run into a former student who’d say, “Remember all those things you told us about _____ (fill in the blank), and we didn’t believe you? Well, you were right!” That made it all so clear.

Yeah, but if a teacher is doing that, kid have a parent, tutor, legal guardian, no?

I mean, your first and last teacher won’t always be your parents?
Not you, but too many folks say: “that teacher isn’t doing a good job” without ever sitting with their kids to teach them what is not taught in schools, and yet is very much needed to know.
Like not being a corporate serf.

It’s funny. The whole conversation changes whenever you find out one of your friends is a teacher. The conversation cannot continue with today’s topics or whatever, because people are often curious with the teaching profession. So being a teacher is much more than watching a student for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. It’s your whole life. And it maybe a drag, but that’s why there’s either bad teachers, or good teachers. And this man, Mr. Thomas Mali, is a good teacher. I’d love to have at least one class with this man.

Thanks to a great science teacher, in four days I’ll be M.Sc. in physics. But I also know there are a lot of people who teach but they shouldn’t. It’s like everywhere in life: there are heroes, there are villains and some ordinary people. Maybe, just being a good teacher is harder than any other job.

I loved this poem for a very long time because I have friends and family members that just don’t understand how I could be a teacher. Yes, I’ve seen some people who should never be in the profession and it’s disheartening to see them be counted as part of our profession. But Mali’s frustration is every good teacher’s frustration.

I’ve used Zen Comics in the past as a lesson on adaptation. Some of your quotes are not literally translated with images, but you’ve created related narratives that highlight the meaning with images. We examine a few of the “non-related” ones and I ask students to adapt a meaningful quote from one of our texts (fiction and non-fiction) to do something similar. The non-artists work with the artists to create wonderful posters for our classroom. I’m expecting to see future websites promoting their work.

That so many (I wouldn’t say most) teachers are poor teachers is a reflection more on society. Society has devalued education, learning, and the desire to gain genuine knowledge.

As a result, a teacher is seen as a peon – a low level drudge who merely drones on to children about the most basic of subjects in order to stuff their head with the bare minimum they require. Worse, teachers are seen as little more than free babysitters by many parents.

This state of affairs is really a damning indictment on society as a whole.

On what basis can you say that “most” teachers are poor teachers? I assume you are at least in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, so the number of teachers you were limited to were those you had in your youth and possibly those your children have or people you know in real life. In other words, you probably have knowledge about 50 teachers, tops.

Of those 50, most were your own teachers and if you were like me then you were ambivalent or youthfully oblivious about most and even hated a few, so you can really say you “know” about 10 teachers.

Now, of those 10 for whom you can profess a level of familiarity, how many of them were “bad” and how many of them simply taught subjects you didn’t care about and thus didnt try? Because THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.

So lets amend your statement for accuracy, “To be honest, nowadays most teachers TEACH SUBJECTS THAT I THINK are just crap. However the minority of these who became teachers because they were genuinely called to, are among the most awesome people in this society.”

Thanks for this zenpencil. I’m a graphic designer, and I’ve worked as a teacher for some years (teaching graphic design, of course). Sometimes I felt like what I did was not important, specially whenever I met with some friends to catch up and they all talked about working in some important company, or having an interesting-sound job title. And I always said: I work as a teacher. Whenever I said that, it was like I could read their minds thinking “oooh… poor girl, I guess she hasn’t found a well paid job… how come, if she was on the top of the class?”
Right now, I have a graphic designer job, at a good company. It’s a good job, I like what I do. But.. oh, I MISS SO MUCH that teaching experience: helping the students grow, give it their all, breaking obstacles, learn, and discover things they never thought about.
I’m planning on teaching again on night school. And… who knows? I might end up teaching full time, even if I don’t make the same money I’m paid where I am right now. IT IS MY PASSION.

This one made me cry, I suddenly remember all the great teachers in my life and I realize how I am the man who am I because of their teachings and their work. They give me the key to have a happy and meaningful life.

Hey Gav, Truly loved this work. It’s crazy how everyone just undermines Teachers and Teaching as a profession by itself.
Personally, I think Teachers hold the greatest responsibility of all professions – molding innocent and curious minds to achieve greatness. Teachers are responsible for our future. The world could always do with more and more great teachers.

Thank you for this! Hopefully, I’d be able to open a school and teach someday too!

I’m studying to be a teacher right now (one more year before graduation) and I’ve had many criticisms over my decision that was almost like the one describe in the poem. I always tell them that I want to make a difference in children’s lives, that’s more important than money. Taylor Mali’s poem makes me even more proud to be a future teacher <3

In a truly sane society, teaching the young would be close to the highest calling for a person to have. It would be seen as one of the most vital contributions to civilization possible for a human being to make.

That teaching is seen as the work of incompetent drudge workers who deserve scorn by those too stupid to comprehend how they themselves learned anything about the world in the first place, just about says everything related to the state society is in. In short, we live in an upside down, backwards world. It is sadly little wonder why so many people are entirely miserable and feel that life is inherently hostile.

Hello, I’m a wannabe writer and a teacher. As a writer, I absolutely love your cartoons about art, and the Invictus series – that last one because the boy is a real hero, who wouldn’t suffer the bullies even if the whole world now thinks he’s crazy and violent. Sometimes you have to make a decision even if the best one (like the “revenge by living well” one) isn’t available.
As a teacher, I was a bit miffed about the anti-education ones – we aren’t trying to fit the pupils into the available roles, we aren’t trying to make them into a mass-product or kill their creativity. We are trying to show them how they can become better versions of themselves. Therefore, a million thanks for this one.
Greetings,
Joke (= my real name. Not English-speaking :-))

As someone who as been called “anti-education”, I say that in my opinion, the problem is with the education and not with the teacher per se. Not even the greatest teacher ever could do a proper, not saying good, just proper, job within horrible facilities, politics and religion dictated/influenced subjects, overcrowded schools, kids with little or none motivation from their homes and parents, etc.

I live in Chile, where lots of people are asking for free university level education and higher quality education. Like if that alone is going to reverse the current course of things where we don’t have proper universities forming teachers, proper schools, proper independent regulatory entities to remove the politics and religion from classes where they don’t belong, and a serious social problem where being educated is a mean to and end.

Unfortunately there are lots of anti education folks like the ones you describe. hopefully they won’t dissuade you from being a teacher

I think I love you! Anytime I have a hard day teaching or get slack from some of my more ignorant family members about having summers “off,” I watch a video of your awesome poem. Thank you. And thank you, Gav, for this awesome poster!!!

I’ve often wonder what it would have been like to have a teacher like that. One who cared. One who was good. I never had one. In my entire career in education from Kindergarten to graduate school I have had at best mediocre teachers. At worst child molesters. I’ve had biology teachers who spent a portion of every class railing against evolution because it wasn’t godly. I had an English teacher who sat in the library during her conference period censoring the books because she didn’t like what was in them. I had a history teacher who taught us that the Ku Klux Klan was a charitable organization that helped keep women safe. I had several coaches who had to marry female students who weren’t 18 yet because they had gotten them pregnant. I’ve never had a teacher who wanted to be a teacher. They all wanted to be something else and became teachers because they couldn’t do anything else.

No person who truly wanted to be a teacher would think of working in the environment you describe. Why would I want to be surrounded by “peers” who molest the students, push their stupid religious beliefs on the students, and lie to the students. It is too bad you went to grad school in what appears to be the same state, but you probably did not get a good enough education from those idiots to make it into a decent college.

Your English is pretty good, though, so you must have learned SOMETHING.

Though i agree with the importance of teachers i really dont agree with his reaction in this post. Im from south america, and like someone said above, maybe the situation is different. Many teachers teach because they dont really have other options, but im not here to talk about them, im here to talk about the people who want to be a teacher (cuz thats the point of this comic).
The person commited to teaching are, to my opinion, the most interesting persons on earth, because, mostly, they are great in they area of work, but instead of become investigator, professionals (im not saying that teachers are not professionals) they decide to try to inspire others. And they know that they career maybe wont go far, but thats no what matters, what really matters is to inspire other people.
I consider this humble posture as one of the most amazing things to do.
The thing i did not like about this comic is that he rages at the lawyer, like he needs to prove something to the other man, he shoulda, in my opinion, known better, recognize his ignorance, and try to teach him what beign a teacher really means.
And what he says its that he teach to his kids to criticize but not to take criticism (that middle finger panel).

TLDR:I think people need to be more patient with the ones that dont know what they are talking about.

I’m an English teacher at a language school in southern Brazil and I’ve used some of your comics with my advanced group, and they just loved them and felt inspired and challenged by them! This one is definitely one of my favourites and I’ll share it with lots of other teachers!!!! Thanks a lot for your beautiful and inspiring work!

While Mr Mail decided to take his job seriously, bad teachers can have the same sort of influence and ruin a child’s interest in a subject… And I had far too many of the bad ones and far too few of the good ones… Sigh…

I see the point, but hating on lawyers is unnecessary. Lawyers in public service do great things and are subject to the same budgetary problems as public teachers. Are there bad lawyers? Obviously. Are there bad teachers? Of course. I thought the point was that we shouldn’t make sweeping judgments about another’s chosen profession.

For some students, getting to C+ will take serious application, serious sweat and tears. So when they do, it’s a real cause for celebration. For others, an A- means they had something that came easy to them, so they didn’t push themselves that final hurdle for true excellence – they got a bit lazy. A good teacher recognizes what each individual is capable of, and modulates their interaction accordingly.

Almost all of my teachers were very bad at what they did. I used to be so happy to get home from school so I could read the encyclopedia and start to learn something. The school system is designed to create a class of consumers and keep them busy and uneducated until they are ready to fill factory jobs (which no longer exist). It is the profession of schoolteachers to oversee this and it is their hobby to congratulate themselves that they are doing something far different. In school, I did manage to learn one thing from them: that education is extremely valuable, and worth any price. Now I have a PhD and I will be in debt for the rest of my life. Pat yourself on the back!

Almost all of my teachers were very bad at what they did. I used to be so happy to get home from school so I could read the encyclopedia and start to learn something. The school system is designed to create a class of consumers and keep them busy and uneducated until they are ready to fill factory jobs (which no longer exist). It is the profession of schoolteachers to oversee this and it is their hobby to congratulate themselves that they are doing something far different. In school, I did manage to learn one thing from them: that education is extremely valuable, and worth any price. Now I have a PhD and I will be in debt for the rest of my life. Pat yourself on the back!

I just posted on my blog a dedication to a dear friend of mine, my former Algebra teacher, who passed away recently. He taught me a lot more than just Algebra. So seeing this piece now is truly moving. He would have loved it. Thank you so much for your art.

teach with a goddamned passion.
How dare you mimic someone else,
how dare you rely on someone else’s spoken word to motivate change.
“our classrooms”— I hope my children and peers are never forced to share a classroom as generic as the one you wish to prepare.

I hope my children and peers know how to be wise enough, to share their lunch table with your children and peers even though they really might not want to.

People have to copy people. Credit ought to be given where it’s due, but you can’t be Original in a good way until you pick the right people to copy because they’re right. Find the giants and ask to stand on their shoulders, you know?

This should not be entitled ‘Teachers make’ it should be entitled ‘GREAT teachers make’, because believe you me, not all teachers do this, not even close. It also disregards the amount of damage that poor and mediocre teachers do to students every day.

I think of my dad as a textbook case of the kind of Bad Teacher everyone responding is kind of qualifying their statements with. I think he’s done irreparable damage in some ways to my family.

But I tried opening my heart to him anyway and I learned from him. Oh WOW what I was able to learn about the world and people from him! YES there are bad Teachers in the world and bad Parents. but a Bad Student is someone who decides to not learn from them. You can learn lots of things if you choose to have the right attitude.

I don’t think my dad ruined me at all, I think he’s been the most priceless Teacher I’ve ever had, but I think that’s because I truly went for relationship with him and I think a lot of people would have betted heavily on me turning out CRAAAAZYYYY messed up with the amount of damage that a poor and mediocre parent ought to have done. My dad is a guy that actually does deserve respect- it’s just hard to see that at first when you learn everything about him. He’s that kind of guy that offers a whole lot to the world, including doing not just things to make it better but things to make it worse too.

Know how many people are like that? Practically everyone.

Students should strive for that kind of relationships with all their Teachers, as Children to Parents, so that whether it’s a Good Teacher or a Bad one, just like with a Good Parent vs. a Bad one…..I’m telling you I got ridiculous insane benefit from deciding to love someone that all rationality would have told me to hate.

I think, definitely, my dad needed me just like I needed him for a lot of things. I think the Bad Teachers in the world might be just as helpable if they meet enough Good Students, over years. Who knows.

In Germany, teachers make more than lawyers. They also have to go to school longer, pass more challenging exams, and do years of interning before they gain a “tenure” position with essential 100% job security. Germany is currently swimming in out-of-work lawyers.

my name is michael i really want to share my testimony on how i became an Illuminati member, through my friend. i was moving with my friend for more than 10 years and he have been getting rich everyday and even giving me money but he never told me the secret of his success until a day i was frustrated to let him know that he should help me also that was when he open up to me and tell me that he was a member of the Illuminati that he have been in the court for more than 10 years that his riches and protection came from this court.so i told him to let me be into the court but it not an easy task to be a member but i was finally initiated into the devil church of the Illuminati and i was confirm in there church. after a month of being a member of Illuminati i got promotion that same month in my working place and within a year i was promoted thrice in my working place to the extend of being a managing Director i never know how to thank this church of Illuminati and today am rich as my friend also, and also the one that surprise me most was that i got an accident with my new car and the car was right off but i still survive the accident and nothing happen to me i really thank you people Illuminati. so i just want to share to the world that this is real and it have help me and work for me so if you want to become a member i can lead you into the court of richness and you will never be poor again, know that it only a member in the Illuminati that can initiate you into the church of illumination they do not contact directly because they are fake Illuminati all over the world, this is my email ilueminosenrealspell@gmail.com they will tell you how to join,

I have to call foul on this. I got suspended for saying “Why should I learn from someone who chose teaching to make money?” and I don’t regret it. There are good teachers out there, no doubt, but I never had a single one.

I studied and read ferociously growing up. I would often finish assignments 10 to 15 minutes ahead of time only to pull out a book and get told off for it. I was relentlessly bullied in school to the point where one of the jerks VOMITED on me and neither the teachers or the principal did anything about it. If I ever did tell one of the teachers about a bully, I was threatened with punishment for being a tattletale.

I dropped out my second year of high school and got my GED in three months of study so don’t even dare say I didn’t want it bad enough. I just didn’t want to be bullied by kids my age, and some wanker behind a desk as well.

School in my life was daycare, nothing more. The teachers, self important jerks who did nothing but squash any idea I ever had and tell me I was wrong, and in the middle, junk like this taped on the wall I would rip off and clog the toilet with.

Go ahead, buy your prints of this bullcrap and hang it up and tell yourself how important you are. I won’t ever forget the damage teachers did to me, or how I pulled myself up out of it.

As a teacher, I apologize for all the shitty teachers you had to endure, and I celebrate your accomplishments in spite of them. Just like all human beings, we have both bad and good in the teaching world. While I’m sad that you had to experience the bad, I’m glad that they didn’t break your fighting spirit. Peace.

It is people like you that cause atheism in the world- NO, not because you’re inherently any worse! In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if you, personally, were not an atheist. You may be. Whether you are or not doesn’t matter.

I’m just saying that atheists justify themselves (and in fact let me say right now- it scares me that I can’t prove them wrong- they could be right, I just don’t want them to be.)

But your testimonies- your Harshly Critical testimonies- You and Everyone like you who are the downtrodden and mistreated by those you should have been able to trust? Help people to lose faith in Teachers, probably also in Parents, in Government, in Society, and in the idea that any of the Authorities or Powers are worth not Rebelling against.

And I don’t mean this as a knock against atheists really- I’m just saying that this type of experience- this is where people Lose Faith and Hope, and start going things Totally On Their Own. For the sakes of the people who lose Faith and choose that way, I hope they CAN take care of themselves because I do WANT them to succeed! I just don’t believe that they will be successful without finding something higher than themselves to Trust.

I just get sad whenever I hear stories like yours, and I know that this kind of Loss of Trust….it’s not something that anyone can easily cure out of society because a lot of different roles humans play….we’d be better off if it wasn’t a human in charge. The world FEELS very Atheistic, doesn’t it?

But I don’t want to live in an Atheist world. I hope people can find the few examples of Parents and Teachers and Governments they can Trust….or at least the ones they can Trust more than others.. I wish you all the best luck, and also ask that you try to be as open-hearted as possible precisely to the people who aren’t open-hearted to you.

It sounds a bit like you hate Teachers. Try to love….try to love even the bad ones. Because I’m very afraid of what happens in the world when people get too quick to hate people that cause them problems like yours- serious problems, problems that we -want- to hate people for, want to say it’s alright to hate.

the only thing I disagree with in the cartoon is the middle finger. But I have a lot of compassion for his frustration. Always Fight Injustice definitely! But also…try to look for Justice that makes you not want to fight. Try to find people you -can- Trust to follow as your Mentors in Adult life?

That was a lot of words. I did get upset because I just hate when people lose trust, especially when it seems like the loss of trust was earned. Good Luck again, whatever you think of my response.

You don’t know a damn thing about atheism. I’m an atheist because I see no evidence for a deity. It has nothing to do with people who dropped out of school, and it has nothing to do with Going Alone or whatever the hell you are saying. I collaborate, communicate, help and support the people around me. I have hopes and dreams. I work towards a better tomorrow. And FUCK YOU for saying that just because I don’t believe in your stupid fucking fairy tales that I must be a bitter, cynical, withdrawn and self-centered person. You are an ignorant, disgusting prick, and it is people like YOU that are making the world a worse place to be.

You took all of the sentiment from those words
You stole all of the capacity from those words

Shame on you
Shame on this disgusting cart00n
And shame on everyone else who looked at this sketch and drained a lifetime of emblazoned passion from Taylor’ swords. Betcha thought that was an error– it was intentional.
This shitty drawing is a disgrace.

‘No you may not ask a question’ That bothers me more than a little, so apparently answering a kid is too much trouble. I get the premise and I heard the original speech, mind you the bathroom thing is kinda silly too but yeah.

There’s a time to answer questions and a time to not answer them. It’s not so much that the idea of asking a question is bad. In fact just the opposite. It’s just that Teachers need to do their damnedest to be Kings and Queens of the classroom, carefully calling on the students in a way that hopefully makes sense and is helpful, since you can’t call on everyone.

A teacher that tries to call on everyone is going to be in just as much trouble keeping a handle on things as a teacher that never calls on anyone.

There’s nothing that quite DEFINES Chaos Meets Order like the image of a classroom full of children.

I had a great teacher once, who really made me know and feel pride of my work. I could get good grades but she would have that look saying “I know you rushed through this” or I sometimes got a lesser grade with a smile in her eye that said she knew I worked hard on it.

There’s a time to answer questions and a time to not answer them. It’s not so much that the idea of asking a question is bad. In fact just the opposite. It’s just that Teachers need to do their damnedest to be Kings and Queens of the classroom, carefully calling on the students in a way that hopefully makes sense and is helpful, since you can’t call on everyone.

A teacher that tries to call on everyone is going to be in just as much trouble keeping a handle on things as a teacher that never calls on anyone.

There’s nothing that quite DEFINES Chaos Meets Order like the image of a classroom full of children.

This cartoon and poem are about the exceptional, devoted teachers and attempts to explain why those teachers continue to use their gifts in teaching rather than in any other field they would likely be quite successful in.

True enough, there were more unremarkable teachers than gifted ones in my school days, but that does not diminish the fact that those teachers were committed to doing work that had great value when it was done well.

Whining about bad teachers is missing the point of the piece entirely.

I’ve been following your site for a some time and while you have some beautiful examples of what can be done in the medium of the comic, this one brought me to tears. I am not a teacher, I wasn’t raised by teachers, I wasn’t a courageus boy. But, goddamn, I am a student. And I wouldn’t be nothing if it weren’t for the teachers that thaught me to dream, to question, to never compromise my freedom. I am studying visual arts and aspire to make comics one day. Thank you for inspiring me and for giving this well earned homage to every great teacher. Thank you for making me remember every single one of them. Just thank you. And thank them.

I teach students in Graduate and Under-Graduate courses, though I love what I do but its really hard to see the difference I make in a life in my field, this comic just reminded me I do a good job. THANKS <3

Taylor Mali was my 6th and 7th grade History teacher. I would like to share my feeling about his teaching style, what set him apart from other teachers, and how he influenced me.

I don’t know what the statute of limitations is regarding when I can actually call him Taylor, so I will continue to refer to him as Mr. Mali.

First and foremost Mr. Mali commanded the classroom. He is a big guy with an even bigger voice. He was genuinely interested in the subject matter and his students. We felt his enthusiasm and worked hard to impress him and more importantly ourselves.

Mr. Mali was honest and true to himself. He shared his life experience and left us with a lasting impression that being truthful, smart and hardworking was paramount.

I have a strange feeling that at some point, I will receive a print out of this response with red pen all over it correcting my grammar, critiquing my lack of a thesis statement or proper supporting paragraphs.

Your comic blew it in a small, but intrinsic way. I’m sure you meant well. When Mali said, “Give them this,” he referred to his mouth, NOT his middle finger. He also did not insert “Goddamn” in “Teachers make a difference.” Some frames show Mali as physically threatening. Those subtle artistic choices undermine Mali’s point. Teachers give students the power to use words well. Empowered people need not resort to crude gestures, language or physical intimidation. They win with words. (Rewatch the bar scene in Good Will Hunting. Not a curse, not a gesture, not a raised voice. An articulate reproof.) If you redid those frames, you would honor his message. (He also said, “Write, write, write.” and “Read.”) Thank you for considering this.

Scott, I’m so sorry! I accidentally posted my response to the cartoonist under your comment! I can’t figure out how to delete it. I loved your description of Mr. Mali’s teaching style and his effect on you and your class. After I watched him, I thought, “Man! I would’ve loved to have him as a teacher!” You know you were blessed to have him, I’m sure. I doubt he’d use his red pencil on you. He’d be smiling with pride.

I love this poem by Taylor Mali and I love Zen Pencils, and I would normally buy a dozen prints of something like this to give as gifts to the teachers in my life– but all the characters are white! Most of the teachers I know in urban public schools have much more diverse classrooms. The teachers themselves are also diverse. I understand having a white male teacher character to reflect Mr. Mali himself, but the classroom scenes are disappointingly homogeneous.

My dad has been a teacher for 16+ years (third career in his life) and quit teaching two years ago due to some bad circumstances at his school. He substituted in a different county and just got hired full time by a principal who watched him teach the most difficult class of kids and make a difference for them. Thank you for drawing this quote out for teachers like my dad who need to be reminded what they are doing and, more importantly, WHY.

So good. SO GOOD! My mom’s a teacher and I grew up hearing my dad constantly ridicule her for being a teacher. If she gave her opinion on something/anything he would say – how can stagnant teacher minds comment on this? They’re separated now and I’m happy to say that despite growing up with his negativity, I truly see my mom as the awesome teacher that she is. Every word in this comic strip is true and is about my mom! Yay, mama!

Actually, teachers don’t make a goddamn difference. They CAN make a goddamn difference. Whether they do it or not, whether they decide to be like the teacher in this comic or to just go in there and survive the hours, it’s up to them.

Taylor Mali came to my school in senior year, and it was the single best assembly I’ve ever seen. He has a gift for real meaningful slam.
And I still have his “This is a ‘like’ free zone” sticker on my laptop.

I’ve just bought this as a print – this particular poem by Taylor Mali has been passed around my friendship group now more times than I could possibly count, and I can’t wait to have a copy of it that I can hang from my wall. I am currently studying for a degree in Special Educational Needs, in the hopes of becoming a teacher a year or two afterwards. Mali’s words have stuck with me for the years leading up to that, and I am positive that they will stick in the many (hopefully!!) years during.

I had a similar conversation with my ex-brother-in-law many years ago. It came down to I was trying to make the world a better place for our kids and he was trying to make the world a better place for the panty-hose company he worked for.

I’m about to become an English teacher in Chile (southamerica) and this comic made me cry. THAT’S the reason why I decided to be a teacher in the first place, to make them believe in themselves even when no one else does. To make them feel appreciated abd help them figure out their passion and who they are.

I am one small voice here among many, but it is many small voices that let the world know when something is great, when something is wrong, when something has to change. My friend, your illustration of Taylor’s poem is great. It should be sent home the first of the year with every student in America, so that their parents can understand what Mr. Mali has been trying to say, so they can SEE what he is saying. That teachers really do make a difference, which sadly to say, most of us don’t. Thank you.

I wish my experiences with teachers were like this. When I was in school they sided with bullies, sat me by myself to keep me out of their way, told me to stop whining and get over it when I tried to talk them, suspended me when a bully stole something and blamed me (even though they knew it was them), instantly blamed me when a bully accused me of something I hadn’t done, did nothing but shake their heads when people threatened to kick my head in.

Teachers in my day were shit. They used to fall asleep in class, they used to slam doors so hard the glass shattered, they used to shout and verbally abuse kids, and were no less than bullies themselves.

I loved the message but I am writing to say that I was distracted throughout by the violence in the zen pencils version. I take issue with someone responding in a physically violent manner to however hurtful a statement, and I don’t say this out of a conscious effort to be PC, I say it because it was shocking to me personally.

There are loads of people out there, students among them, who are survivors of domestic violence and other forms of abuse. I have heard of a student accused of mental disability because of the way she sat as if catatonic through a particular teacher’s class each day, and it was because she experienced violence at home and was scared every day in class when her teacher shouted his lectures. He didn’t realize.

If the teacher in this zen pencils work had had the same emotional reaction but stayed across the table, had given his adversary personal space, I would have had no issue with the work. It is when he walks across the table to threaten the other man that it crosses the line in my mind.

today is Teacher Day here in Indonesia. and i spread the link of this work to all my fellows teacher as a small gift to warm the hearts. i’am my self not a teacher, yet it’s wonderfull to see from inner view of teaching soul it self. thank you, Gav! it’s a superb work you’ve done :))

I respect teachers, or should I say I listen to understand them based on what they understand. I would also say any teacher who uses any fear to control students is not enjoying the Information Age. If fear can be defined as lack of understanding, then the light of information being placed on fear is creating a state of disorder. This state of disorder is what Albert Einstein was referring to when he said “peace cannot be kept by fear, it can only be achieved through understanding”. Why? Because not all people fear, but in the absence of fear we all do what we understand. Since we learn modeled behaviors and most modeling refers to trying to control others, we should be in for an interesting ride.

I’m not a teacher yet, but when I am I plan on ordering and using many of your comics. I absolutely love what you do and I hope you continue doing it for a long time. I hope I find my new career as rewarding as you do. I decided 5 years after getting my degrees in Computer Science that I absolutely hated computers. I spent 3 years being a housewife before deciding what I want to be when I grow up. I am now a 26-year-old mother of three going back to college for a degree in elementary education because I want to be the one who makes that difference. I hope that I am able to teach the doodlers and the dreamers of tomorrow.

Gav, Your comic blew it in a small, but intrinsic way. I’m sure you meant well. When Mali said, “Give them this,” he referred to his mouth, NOT his middle finger. He also did not insert “Goddamn” in “Teachers make a difference.” Some frames show Mali as physically threatening. Those subtle artistic choices undermine Mali’s point. Teachers give students the power to use words well. Empowered people need not resort to crude gestures, language or physical intimidation. They win with words. (Rewatch the bar scene in Good Will Hunting. Not a curse, not a gesture, not a raised voice. An articulate reproof.) If you redid those frames, you would honor his message. (He also said, “Write, write, write.” and “Read.”) Thank you for considering this.

I’m a Colombian English teacher and I have used many of your comics as a way of helping my students improve their speaking skills. Your work has been an amazing tool to do so. My students feel quite inspired by your work and start talking about the quotes and poems in such a deep way, that I feel extremely blessed by your wonderful art.

Sadly, many parents and even many pupils do not wonder or criticize, nor they sit in silence or show courage. Because both parents and pupils simply cut it out like this: “I don’t even listen to the teacher. He’s poor and despised, so why bother caring about what an outcast says when my family has climbed the ladder unlike him? I don’t make nothing useful nor does my child, but, frankly, who cares? I’ve got money and he does not, that’s the point.” A speech like that in this encouraging poster can work for someone who listens to you and actually wants to thinkl five seconds that you could be right. Most of the “so you are a teacher?” guys do not fit the description. What to do about them, besides a) leave them alone babbling b) chopping their empty heads? Sorry for being so demotivational but while Teachers have been busy arguing in a civilized way, utter despise has spread. You won’t make it with kindness alone, still, past the rage, you made my day. I remember I wrote something similar in Italian about “being proud to write”. It sounds like “Why the engineer is proud of the bridge, why even the petty manager is proud of his graphs and slides and you say writing is useless and I can’t be proud of it?”

I really like your comics; most of them, I love. I sometimes translate them to Portuguese because I don’t want them to go unknown by my fellow Brazilians for a minor thing like the language.

This one, though, which I’m supposed to relate to more than most, for I’m a teacher, I don’t care for. I don’t know, I don’t see myself melting down because of a ignoramus’ comment about my profession. Au contraire, I’d probably argue with him till he ran out of stupid things to say; not for his sake, but for the sake of the audience, who doesn’t deserve to see that remark go without challenge.

I don’t think the teacher in this comic come out on top at all. He just kinda made the point of his contestant. The argument you have to yell to defend is an argument you still have to work on.

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“No, you may not ask a question.” I hate how this is presented as a good thing. A teacher should encourage curiosity in his students. What if that child doesn’t understand something and needs to clarify? Why wouldn’t you answer a question?

This technology is hurting us, I say. I blame the microwave for most of our problems. Anything that gets that hot without fire, that’s from the devil. You don’t believe me, you put a hot pocket in there for three or four minutes, pop that thing in your mouth, if that’s not hell, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what is.

I think this one was really amazing to read and see, especially one day after the Indian festival of Guru-Poornima ( it was on 22nd July ) which we celebrate to honour and show reverence to our teachers and ‘gurus’.
Your work is truly inspiring! Congratulations!